Employer and Employee
by Takashima
Summary: Shounenai Seto Kaiba x Jounouchi Katsuya pairing. It's hard not to have feelings for a person you secretly admire, especially when that person works for you. [Complete]
1. Employer and Employee

Takashima - Hello! My name is surname is Takashima! Nice to meet you! This is a simple short story I wrote for my English class the other day. Please enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfiction are borrowed and are not mine. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

----

**Employer and Employee**

"Those weeks I spent with him," Seto thought as he sat at his broad oak desk, staring at the polished door idly, "I wish... I wish they didn't end." It was the end of summer vacation and students were beginning to get ready for the new school year. The vacation was fleeting, so much joy was shared during the short four weeks of rest and relaxation.

Seto Kaiba, the corporate CEO of Kaiba Corporation, was working. Or at least he was trying. Sitting in his big black chair, he looked down at the piles of papers that rested in his hands. Words after words, they began to blend together, looking almost the same as the next. He was thinking that maybe there was something wrong with his eyes and he removed the thin framed reading glasses from the bridge of his nose. And with his fingers, rubbed his eyes.

When he replaced the glasses back onto his nose, he still couldn't tell the difference between the words. Sitting back in his chair, he let out a sigh. "What's wrong with me?" Seto said, frustrated. He wasn't usually like this. He could always work in the worst conditions. But, this, today? "I can't deal with this." And he rose from his seat. He stepped around his desk and crossed the large room to the coat rack that held his favorite black trench coat.

He took it and put it on and was quickly out his office door. The hallway had a certain sanitary smell to it but it wasn't quite similar to that of a hospital's generic sanitary scent. "Hold all my calls till tomorrow and cancel all my appointments for later this evening," he said as he strode past his secretary. He didn't wait for a response from his employee as he quickly stepped into the silver caged elevator.

The doors shut as soon as he entered. Without a glance, his slender finger pressed the main lobby button on the control panel and he felt the gentle drop of the chamber as it was being lowered to the requested floor. His shoulders were stiff as he stood up straight and his lips were pursed as usual, yet there was nothing and no one to bother him in there, so why so serious in a place where no one else was?

His mind was drifting. He was unconsciously remembering the time he spent with him during the summer vacation.

"Seto! You shouldn't be so serious all the time!" A boy with blonde hair laughed. "You'll get your face stuck that way for the rest of your life and your future kids will be afraid of you!"

He shook his head when he felt his heart throb. He didn't want to remember but it was one of his best memories, if not the most enjoyable. This blonde boy was so carefree and in a way, Seto had admired that characteristic and adored it even though he would never admit it.

The elevator gave a soft ding before the doors slid open. As he set out, he took in the usual sight of the white marble floors, multiple glass triangle chandeliers hanging from the tall ceilings, the broad windows above and circular secretary desk in the center. They were the same usual things he saw everyday when he left. And as he crossed from the elevator to the glass doors of the front of the building, he heard a "have a good night, Mr. Kaiba" from his dutiful employee. He responded with a nod and kept on his way.

The sun was already behind the horizon beyond and the skies were beautifully dark and streaked with the most amazing oranges, pinks and radiant goldenrod. Goldenrod, just like his hair. Seto frowned. The similarities were driving him mad.

"I have to stop thinking about that damned mutt!" Seto snarled under his breath as he walked onto the sidewalk. The people walking alongside him seemed to know who he was but didn't seem to want to bother him. Must have been his intimidating expression...

It didn't matter to him where he was going at the time. And when he finally looked up, he found himself in the park where he had first talked to him seriously. His face grew wistful as he recalled the moment.

--

"What are you doing, Mutt?" Seto had snarled.

The blonde boy turned to look at the tall brunette, "None of yer damned business, Kaiba!" This boy always had a way to tick him off and that day had been no different.

Seto had felt a vein throb at his temple but his face had remained calm. "Katsuya, why aren't you hanging out with your 'friends?' Or did they up and abandon you like the mutt you are?" These words were cold and almost vicious. However the words didn't do anything but anger the blonde.

The blonde boy's brown eyes narrowed. "No, Kaiba, and fer yer information, they're at school," he snarled softly.

"And why aren't you? Thinking about committing yourself to a kennel?" A humored smirk played at Seto's lips. He had been watching this boy ever since he had met him. At first, he saw this boy as nothing but a nuisance, however, ever since the end of the tournament that he had hosted only a short two months ago, he saw this boy in a different light. Strong and loyal, just like a dog. A mutt.

"Pfft!" The boy turned his back to him. "If it should be anyone, it should be you, Kaiba!" His hand was digging through the pocket of his tacky, green salvation jacket. He continued to speak, "Anyway, thanks fer coming by. I know that you don't like me or Yug' or the others, but we thought it would be nice if you could start being our friend by us giving you this."

Seto closed his sapphire eyes and turned his face to the side. His cocky attitude had shaped his malicious and snappy reply, "Humph! Whatever! I don't see why I'm wasting my time. I don't need whatever pathetic gift you're planning on giving me, Katsu--" But he was interrupted.

Katsuya's hand was outstretched and his palm was open towards the brunette. It was holding onto something small and silver. As Seto stared at the trinket in the blonde boy's hand, he was shocked at what adorned the faceplate of the item; the face of his most beloved monster, the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and the chain connected to it had a beautiful sterling hook that could easily be attached to a belt loop on his jeans or a clip on his wallet.

With a flip of his thumb, Katsuya opened the beautifully crafted lid and inside, a clock. The arms of the watch were designed to be the shape of the dragon's silver wings and on the face stood small shining aquamarines, adorning each hour with their lustrous beauty.

The stunned expression on Seto's face amused Katsuya enough to produce a soft chuckle. A passing breeze swept his long bangs in front of his face and touseled his shoulder length mane into the air restlessly. Softly, he began to speak, "It's unique, Kaiba, because it's the only one in the world." He had closed his palm and withdrew his hand to his side. He waited for Seto to look him in the eyes.

"So, Kaiba, will ya accept our token of friendship? Honest to Kami, we don't want to fight anymore with ya. We just wanna be friends with 'cha."

The next few minutes were silence. Seto hadn't known what to do. This had never happened to him before and he stood, losing his composure a smidge, as he watched the blonde in partially masked surprise. A shaky smirk appeared at his lips and this made the other boy step back warily, "What is this? Some kind of _joke_, Katsuya!?" His heart had begun to tremble. He was scared, and the only way he knew how to deal with it was to hide behind his proud visage and a spiteful smirk.

Katsuya must have been studying Seto's face. When he reached his hands up and nested the tall brunette's face between his palms, it surprised and flustered Seto beyond words. It was enough to make the colors in his cheeks glow. The blonde pulled him down to his height and his lips wore a heartrending frown, "No, this is not a joke, Seto Kaiba." And with that, his hands pulled back; the left taking Seto's right and with the right putting the elegantly designed pocket watch into his palm. He enclosed Seto's fingers around the watch with his hands and he stepped back. "It's for you."

---

Seto's mind dispelled the memory when his body detected the presence of another person close to him. His sharp eyes looked behind him first instinctively. There was nothing there, just the path he had taken to get there and brightly lit street lamps with hooked heads. He waited. There was still nothing there. "My imagination," he muttered grumpily. He let out a sigh and his blue eyes wandered up to the sky.

The sky was a creamy blend of azures and blacks with white dots, almost like a quilt. A warm, comfortable quilt that could never be reached with a single pair of grasping hands. The night's gentle wind played with Seto's cropped hair as if forcing him to remember that time. That time with Katsuya and no one else.

The sudden shrill of a muffled cell phone in his front coat pocket woke him up from his shortly-lived reverie. At first dumbfounded, as if trying to figure out what it was, his hand reached into his pocket to pick up the small gray communication device and put it to his ear. "Yes?"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded excited and breathless, "Big Brother!"

His tone was ever cool and composed, "What is it, Mokuba?"

"Jounouchi-kun!" The young sounding voice was panting, as if he had rushed to the phone hastily, "He's in the hospital!" Seto could feel his blood run cold and his heart nearly stopped.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked, "Seto, did you hear me?" However, the young boy heard the raspy static in his earpiece suddenly and pulled the phone from his ear. His older brother had hung up on him.

"I can't believe this!" Seto thought as he ran from where he stood to the park's exit. "I can't believe this!!!"

---

"Stop fidgeting so much or you'll open your wound again!" Seto had snarled one day. He disposed of the q-tip into the wastebasket and a few bloody gauze.

"Owwww!" Katsuya winced, "I can't help it! You don't even know the meaning of being 'GENTLE!'" He withdrew from Seto's helping hand as he was trying to apply ointment to his eye.

"If you stopped moving so much," the CEO had grabbed the blonde's head with his hand and forced him to stay still, "it wouldn't have to hurt so much!" After a few minutes, he was finished. "There." The blonde boy's effeminate hand gingerly touched the skin below his black eye and it hurt even there. He hissed his displeasure but he had to endure. It was his prize for winning a fight with Tristen against the West Academy gang, their rivals for territory.

Katsuya's eyes fell onto the broad shoulders of the tall brunette as he put away the first aid kit away neatly. "Kaiba, why did you do all this for me?"

"What?" He asked gruffly as he opened a wooden cabinet hanging to his right.

The boy scooted off the stool, watching Seto put the kit back to its rightful place before repeating himself, "Why did you do all this for me?"

Seto turned around and looked down at Katsuya and for a moment, he was quiet. Thinking of a reasonable and logical explanation, but he couldn't come up with one. Then finally, he answered slowly, "You're my employee."

The blonde boy's expression faltered only slightly when his boss made this statement. Seto had seen it but he didn't know what to make of it. Keeping quiet, he watched him for several more seconds before turning to leave the medical ward of his mansion, leaving Jounouchi alone. He remembered thinking, "What.... was that? My chest it felt... strange just then..."

---

At that time, during summer vacation, Seto had employed Katsuya at his company to work for him as a game tester. He would test games that ranged from old fashioned board games to anything from simulators to motion sensory captures. It was a job that anyone would have killed for, and he had gotten it.

During the first week of starting this job, Katsuya was working inside of his Boss' home, in the gaming lab in the second sublevel basement under the mansion. It was the end of the night and he was heading home. Taking the elevator, he had pressed the incorrect button and ended up on the second level of the luxurious mansion, the dormitory level.

He had no idea where he was and the elevator's doors had closed behind him. There had been no way back. With no other alternative, he followed the long and narrow corridor. It was deathly quiet and not a servant of the Kaiba household were in sight. As he traveled along, he had come across a room where its door was left ajar.

Even though he wasn't suppose to be there in the first place, he had walked stealthfully to the jarred door to investigate. It was clear that his intentions to sneak a peak through the crack were purely innocent however, his curiosity had also clouded his better judgment. He would soon regret his mistake.

When he got there, he could see into the room. The walls were bare and there was a single bookshelf on the far left wall. There were also a few large potted plants here and there. As he moved to the side more, he saw the edge of a large desk and someone there.

Seto was reading a book when he sensed someone by the door. Slowly, he put down his book and just as he rose from his seat, he heard footsteps striding quickly from the door and down the hall towards the stairs. Right when he was out the door, he saw Katsuya trip over his own foot and he parasailed down the two flights of stairs, hitting the hard marble floor below heavily.

Luckily for the mutt, none of his bones were broken but he had several cuts on his cheeks. "I'm fine," Katsuya had said with a pained smile when Seto's younger brother, Mokuba, came to see how he was.

At the top of the stairs, Seto stood there watching, quietly. He had been worried but with his brother there, he didn't want to say anything to his employee. It would have shattered the image of the 'working relationship' that Katsuya and himself shared in his brother's eyes.

---

That was then and this was now. Seto's face was slick with a thin sheet of perspiration and he was panting. He rounded a corner and continued weaving his tall and nimble body through crowds of people, not noticing or stopping to apologize to the people he bumped into occasionally on accident. All that was on his mind was his so-called employee, Jounouchi Katsuya. In his mind, he was hoping that he was alright, hoping that nothing serious had happened. Not like the last few times.

Over the course of summer vacation and Jounouchi's employment with Kaiba Corporation, the boy had been hospitalized at least two times. The first had been indirectly Seto's fault and the second, during a lunch date with his Boss and his younger brother, Mokuba at an exotic restaurant where an old gang of his kidnapped him and nearly beat him until Seto appeared to rescue him, riding a modern metal steed, a Harley Davidson.

The hospital was just up ahead. The driveway was full of patients' cars and was blocked from the street to the automatic glass doors. In spite of this, it wasn't completely inaccessible. Seto jumped the metal rails and onto the front lawn then bolted across the grass. He skillfully navigated around the cars and through the doors into the packed lobby.

Unselfconsciously, Seto's hand was in his pocket, holding onto something that was given to him in his palm as his mind chanted repeatedly for Jounouchi's health. He approached the front desk. A glass window was the only barrier between him and the nurses.

"Can I help you, Sir?" The nurse had a calm smile on her face. It was her job to put the patient's family or friends at ease as she helped them find their way around the medical facility.

Seto was trying desperately to keep his face composed and strong as he spoke with her, "I'm looking for Jounouchi Katsuya's room, please." He watched her tip her head down as she looked in a large black book that held the basic records and room numbers of their in-patients.

"He would be in room two hundred and eleven, Sir," she looked up and she saw no one standing there. As she stood from her little revolving chair, looked after a hasty sounding trail of steps, she saw the man in the black trench coat that had asked her for information disappear into the hospital's elevator.

Seto Kaiba was his name. He was the cold, calculating CEO of Kaiba Corporation, Japan's number one toy company. And he was in the hospital, heart racing, blood icy, coming to visit one of his employees that had just recently been hospitalized. "What am I thinking?" Seto thought as the elevator took him to the second floor, "I'm just visiting an employee at the hospital." After all that time, he was still convincing himself that this was just a working relationship. "Any employer would visit their employee if he was sick. It's natural!"

He found himself bolting out the elevator doors as soon as the charming ding of the elevator chirped. Almost jogging along the white, sanitary smelling corridor, he quickly found room two hundred and eleven without any form of help from the staff on the floor. The door seemed like an archway, a golden door that lead him to the person he wanted to see the most.

He could hear the thunderous beatings of his heart in his ear. There was a wad of saliva sitting in the back of his throat and as his hand reached the door knob, he swallowed down on it hard. With a flick of his wrist, the door swung open.

The room was dark and the only source of light in the room were the IV monitors. He stepped in silently, shutting the door gently behind him, careful not to let it make a sound when the lock fixed together. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness of the room. When his eyes were able to see fairly through the dark, he noticed a body in the bed before him. Again, his heart beat furiously.

'Jounouchi,' he wanted to say, but couldn't. His voice had dried up.

As he neared the bed, something shifted under the sheets. "Seto?" A familiar voice asked softly.

His voice sounded sure, "Yes, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my employee, Jounouchi." It wasn't a hundred percent a lie. Silence followed his statement. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"Oh..." The voice seemed disappointed, and this made Seto's heart throb. He didn't want to say it like that, 'visit my employee,' sounding as if Jounouchi had only been a tool to him. On the contrary, Jounouchi was more to him than that. "Well," the figure in the bed began softly once again, "As you can see, Ah'm a-ok. So you can go, Boss-man, don't waste your time with me." Katsuya's nickname for Kaiba.

Even though it wasn't the time for it, Seto really despised that pet name, "Don't call me that, Katsuya."

A soft chuckle, "I'm sorry, _MR_. Kaiba.."

The employee was teasing his employer even in his sickly state. "If you're going to speak to me like that, I'll go." And he turned toward the door.

"No!" The boy sat up in bed quickly, "Ah'm sorry. I appreciate your coming to visit me, really!"

As if on cue, Seto's heart began to beat even faster than it had before. He continued to play it cool, regardless. "Good." He returned to the bedside. He was grateful for the dark cover. He was grateful for the privacy of the room. And most of all, he was grateful for the knowledge that Jounouchi was all right.

"Thank yo-" Katsuya froze where he sat. His eyes widened for only a moment before he closed them. When Seto pulled back, the boy blushed and stammered, "K-Kai-Kaiba?? Why?"

It had taken all his courage to do what he did. Kissing Jounouchi. It was something that he had been wanting to do and he felt that if he hadn't, he would have never gotten a second chance. He realized how many times he had hurt him and no matter how many times he would have apologized, the pain in his and Jounouchi's heart would never heal with mere words. A kiss was all that it took to heal his wounds. The wound of their hearts.

"Because you're more than just an employee to me, Jounouchi," Seto said.

----

Takashima - I'm not sure if I want to but, there might be a sequel to this. We'll see how you, my reader's respond!


	2. The Rain Is An Omen

Takashima - Here's the part one sequel of **Employer and Employee**! I would really appreciate some feedback so I can further improve my writing skills! Arigatou gosaimashita and happy reading! Btw, sorry that this installment was so late!

Update: Sorry! When I rereead this, I found some really stupid mistakes that I forgot to pick up! _tears_ Forgive me!

Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfiction are borrowed and are not mine. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

----

Ever since that visit, Seto was always on his mind. The memory of his Boss kissing him kept replaying over and over again in his mind and it didn't seem to want to dissolve; even now it played. It didn't leave a bitter taste in his mouth, on the contrary... It was sweet and this memory made his heart skip with joy and beat in his ears as his cheeks flushed furiously each time he watched it in his head.

His fingers traced the plush flesh of his lips. "...Seto."

---

He had been blushing feverishly and stammered, "K-Kai-Kaiba?? W-why?" His fingers slipped over his lips, as if he could feel the traces of the brown-haired boy's lips against his and he wanted to touch them with his fingers.

"Because you're more than just an employee to me, Jounouchi," Seto had said firmly and truthfully. His fingers had been strangely hot that night when they held the blonde boy's chin between his thumb and curled fingers. It was as if...unselfconsciously, Seto wanted to touch him more, more than anyone he had known but dared not as he was afraid for himself and his employee.

The blonde boy's small hands reached from under the sheets in the darkness to take a firm hold of the standing boy's wrist. He didn't know what to say. "I'm more than an employee to him?" Katsuya remembered thinking at that moment as he felt his heart racing in his chest and thundering in his ears, "How could Seto possibly--" But this thought had never completed...

He hadn't been quite as prepared and he found himself falling deeper... The second kiss had been much deeper than the first. So deep that he could hardly breathe.

The kiss told him what he had wanted to know, and it sent his insecurity back to the dark confines of his mind. This was what he had wanted from him. It was selfish and he knew it. He was only suppose to be his friend but as he had began to learn more about the composed CEO, he found himself entranced by his silent and frosty beauty, as if he had been a puzzle, ready and willing to be broken apart and put back together once more. He had wanted to know more.

When Seto's lips finally parted his, he could almost see the splendor behind the darkness. Jounouchi. The way his hair was swept messily behind his ears, a few strands about his face, and his handsome brown eyes that were dreamily watching him. He had wanted to kiss him again, but he knew that if he were to stay any longer, he wouldn't be able to leave his side. His younger brother was waiting for him at home and as a brotherly obligation, he had to return home to him. There was so much more to explain between himself and Katsuya.

"Jounouchi-kun," Seto whispered huskily.

He wet his lips with his tongue, "Y-Yes..?"

"I'm--"

---

Katsuya turned on the lights and when the fluorescent wicks of the bulbs erupted with luminosity, he walked into his living room. He was happy to see that none of his things were missing. From time to time, his neighbor, Haruko, would come into his apartment uninvited and although he knew that she wasn't a thief, you could never tell what she would do next. She was unpredictable.

The pine dinner table to his left was still polished and beautiful along with its six chairs that sat beneath it, and the hanging photos on his right were perfectly angled. Just a few paces ahead was the familiar semi-circular suede couch that he had gotten a long time ago by himself and sitting just before the couch was his prized entertainment item, his large LCD plasma television. It looked like a thin frame from the side but standing in front of it gave you the impression of being inside a program without having to step foot outside of your home.

Crossing the polished wood floor, he made his way onto the couch. He dropped his weight into the seat, making it hiss out the air from the pockets inside of the cushion. He took a moment to think before his hand reached behind the couch to touch the 'play' button on the chirping answering machine. As he sat, his fingers touched his lips nostalgically again as he listened to each message.

The first message was from his mother, telling him that she was going to transfer money into his banking account. He didn't mind, however, he told her a while back that she didn't need to anymore. He had gotten a job at the prestigious toy company, Kaiba Corporation; he could support himself now. But he knew, as a mother, she wouldn't take 'no' as an answer. He was her son. "Danks Mom."

When he had been younger, his mother and father had gotten a divorce, forcing his sister, Shizuka, and himself apart. Those were the most painful years of his life. To make matters even worse, in the coming years, Shizuka had begun to lose her sight and their father was drinking and gambling again. The old man couldn't even hold a job for long. He even had the gall to ask his own son for money to buy more liquor!

The depts. gave birth to more depts. until Jounouchi knew that if he didn't help his father pay them back, that he too would be destroyed along with his father. He would have no future. It wasn't until he was in high school that all the depts. were either paid off or forgiven. However, because of how much he had suffered because of his father, the school's administrative somehow had his father committed to a twenty-four hour rehabilitation center where he could properly recover. They also gave him special permission to work after school to support himself. Not many students were allowed to do this.

The next few messages were from his best friends: Yugi, Anzu, Honda and Ryou. It touched him to know that they cared about him and their concerned voices conveyed how much they missed him even over an electronic message. "You guys," he murmured as he smiled inwardly, "Ah'm so glad dat you guys are mah friends..."

However, the next message was a hang-up call. And the next was the same. When the annoying buzzing echoed from the speaker, Jounouchi sat up and looked at the little black machine with a puzzled expression on his face. The final message was the same as the last two....

He didn't usually have many people call him aside from his friends, his mother, sister or rarely his father. No one else had his number, not even his troublesome neighbor Haruko. But then, his mind rolled back, as if wanting him to remember or perhaps it was simply jumping onto conclusions at a drop of a dime.

He was working for the biggest toy company mogul in Japan... Kaiba Corporation.

"Seto Kaiba...?" It made sense but on the other hand, it didn't. Why would the cold-hearted employer call an employee at his home while he was gone? But then again... The cogs in his mind began to turn... Why would an employer kiss his employee when he knew that relationships such as those were against working etiquette...? It just didn't make sense, at least not to this boy. Besides, this was Seto Kaiba!

He had only been gone for a day to go to a festival with Honda and it wasn't that long of a trip... "Not even a day," Jounouchi thought to himself, "It was only a night.. Amane and Ryou had a pair of tickets and we had the other.." It puzzled him and he didn't like to be puzzled. It just didn't suit him to leave things unsolved and not to mention, it annoyed him.

His hand reached into his left seat pocket and pulled out his cell phone. With a flick of his wrist, the lip of the two-inch phone extended to four. He pressed the down button to automatically open his address book in the phones database and selected a number. He put the receiver to his ear and waited.

There were two rings before there was an answer. "...Hello?" The voice was monotonous.

"Kaiba..." He had almost expected for Seto to hang up on him when he heard his voice but that didn't happen, that detested end-call buzzing never came.

"...You're home."

Jounouchi slowly cast his eyes forward, looking at the pine dinner table. "That's all...?" He thought. His heart felt like it was being squeezed in a fist. "Yeah," he said slowly. "We were only gone a night.."

There was no response.

"So.." Even though Seto was nowhere in sight, Jounouchi didn't feel comfortable talking to him. Who could over night? That would just be a miracle! "Kaiba, did you call me last night?"

Jounouchi could almost hear Seto shifting through his receiver. It was as if he was nervous or maybe it was his imagination... "Yes," Kaiba said coolly but his voice faltered subtly.

"Three times?"

Simply, Seto replied, "Yes..."

"Why?" Jounouchi could hardly believe that Seto had admitted it. Sitting back in his couch, he thought that maybe he had another job for him to perform... Or maybe... could it have been for some other reason? However, Kaiba knew that he shouldn't call in the evening for such things and he also knew that Jounouchi was going to be gone. So then why? "Is there something I need to test out tomorrow morning, Kaiba?"

"No."

"'No...?'"

Seto's voice was soft and there was a touch of tenderness and a ring of honesty. "I....wanted to hear your voice."

Katsuya could almost feel the shock appear on his face. His eyes widened and his face became picturesquely surprised. His voice wouldn't come when he wanted it to say "why?" and it even failed to make a single sound. It must have been several seconds before he could utter a word. "M-My voice... Kaiba..?"

"Yes. I found myself wanting to hear it."

His cheeks flushed and his brown eyes shifted to his fidgeting knee. "B-but Kaiba--"

"Jounouchi," as quickly as he was warm, he was cold again, "Tomorrow, I need you to help me test out a new simulator; The Duel Monsters Rink." It was a drastic topic change and it almost left Jounouchi dumbfounded and depressed. "Make sure you bring your deck with you."

"He had _finally_ opened up a little bit," Jounouchi thought, teeth grating together mutely, "and he goes and changes the subject just like that! Now.. I'm just as confused as before.. Does... Seto have any feelings for me..?"

---

The next day wasn't a great day. Right when the morning started, it was dark and as soon as the earl gray clouds rolled into the sky, one could tell that it was going to rain and pretty heavily too.

Jounouchi stepped out of his apartment, looking from the terrace to the city that stretched before him. "It's going to rain for a while.." He murmured, grimacing. A chilly breeze flew by him, mussing his hair out of its usual style and those goldenrod locks covering half of his face.

"Ya look like crap, Jou-kun!" A tomboyish voice shouted to him from his left side.

He sighed. He didn't need to look to know who it was. "Haruko-chan... Danks for carin'! I was only in da hospital for a week!"

"Well how was I suppose ta know? Ya didn't even botha callin' me! Some friend you are!" Haruko was what you would call a 'goth' but she still had punk in her. Her hair was straight and lengthy and was a black color with bright pink flames at the ends; she always wore fishnet shirts and leather skirts. She was beautiful, utilizing her natural Asian beauty and western attires perfectly.

She walked over to him and hung herself around his neck. "But I still love ya, Jou-kun!" And affectionately kissed his cheek, leaving a bold, blood-red imprint of her lips. That was her favorite color; blood red. "So where ya goin'? Work?"

Jounouchi nodded. "'ey, if Tristen comes by, ya mind tellin' him dat too?"

"Sure, Jou-kun! When ya comin' back?" She loosened her hold and stood back. Her hand swept her bangs from her eyes.

"Maybe at seven if I'm lucky," Jounouchi cast his eyes on her before he turned to go to the stairs, "Smell ya later!" His hand gave her a back-handed wave.

It wasn't too long after Jounouchi left the dry, warm apartment building that it started to rain. The drops falling towards the Earth felt like they were hail, hard and cold. The sky began to grow increasingly darker and darker before the lightning began to fork through the sky, clearly a sign of omen.

---

Jounouchi burst through the front glass doors of Kaiba Corp. His salvation green jacket and the rest of his attire was completely soaked from the rain. He gasped, surprised. It was a shock on how cold it had gotten in a fraction of a second and it had only been raining for only a few minutes. He had only been running through the rain quickly but he was drenched from head to toe. His skin was giving off goose-bumps and the hairs on his body were standing on end. He didn't like this feeling.. the chill was starting to make his fingers go numb.

The people in the foyer had momentarily stopped to stare at him. Some whispered but then they went on their way. They were wearing white lab jackets, meaning they were employees of this company. He, aside from the secretary that sat dutifully in the circular desk in the center of the foyer, didn't have one of those jackets. He was just a tester for this company. Just a tester....

As he walked towards the desk, his sneakers squeaked across the marble-tiled floor. Deliriously annoying and high-pitched, he winced with each step. "E-Excuse me... Ma'am--"

The secretary looked up at him and a smile appeared on her lips. "Hello, Katsuya Jounouchi. We've been waiting for you. If you would, please take the elevator over there and it will take you where you need to go." Jounouchi could only nod. He was soaked and he wanted to change. Maybe there would be some extra clothes in the building that he could borrow?

He crossed the floor, trying not to make too much noise, and approached the elevator. As he was about to press the down button, the silver doors slid open. The cage was empty. It was as if, it had been waiting just for him. How curious... He decided that he didn't want to toil with this thought and stepped in. The doors glided shut and soon, he could feel the cage descend.

A few moments later, the elevator stopped and chirped as the doors glided open. Stepping out, Jounouchi could see that the room was completely pitch dark, with an exception of a few lamp lights here and there. He had this bone chilling feeling that this room was going to be huge and a moment later, he was revealed an entire stadium, one similar to the one in the duel monster tournaments, when the lights turned on and flooded the area.

"Wow.." He was awed. Although this stadium was similar to the one in the duel monster tournaments, it wasn't completely the same. There were no stretching platforms where duelists had to climb onto, there were no bulky simulators acting as rails, just a flat plain with only a few guidelines painted onto the floor to show where each player were to stand. Was this just... a field? There didn't even seem to be any kind of simulator there! "Dis is kinda cool! I wonda where da sims are...?"

"They're built into the field."

"Into da fi--" Jounouchi blinked and whipped around, where the voice was coming from. "Kaiba...!"

Seto, dressed in that ever-long purple coat, walked over to him and looked down on him with his hard blue eyes. "Now you really look like a mutt, Katsuya."

"Erk!" Jounouchi reeled back a step, water dripping everywhere. "Dun call me that! 'sides! It ain't my fault! I didn't think it would rain before I got ova here!"

"That's the problem with mutts, they don't think."

Now, maybe it was his imagination or not but, Jounouchi was beginning to think perhaps that Kaiba only acted this way towards **him**. Although, he didn't like Yugi that much and thought of him as his rival, Seto had some kind of respect for him still. But not for Jounouchi. Seto was always teasing him, may it be for his own entertainment or he was just in a sour mood.

Seto was his boss and there was a certain way to perform in front of him and him to perform to his employee. Maybe it was because they were the same age? Who knows, but this just plain ticked him off.

"Seto!" Jounouchi scowled as his eyes narrowed.

Surprisingly, Seto was chuckling. It didn't seem like it was directly at the shorter boy but rather at his expression. He was soon back to his old self when he looked at the other boy's curious expression. "I can't have you get a cold. Come with me, Mutt."

---

Seto had taken him to the Corp.'s hospital wing and lead him to one of the vacant rooms. There he let the blonde dry up with a towel as he set out to retrieve some company clothing; namely pants and a shirt. When he came back and stood by the door and knocked, he heard no movement. He considered that an a-ok to enter.

The door opened and he stepped in, his shoes making soft clicks with each step. The curtains that created a barrier between the patient's bed and the door were closed. Before he had left, he remembered that they were open. Was Jounouchi playing games? Was Jounouchi waiting for him on the other side to get ready and... and...

He walked further in, his chest clenching his heart tightly and flung the curtains wide open only to see a half-naked Katsuya, faint and sprawled on the bed. He instantly observed that the boy's cheeks were flushed and his forehead was clammy with sweat beads. Quickly, he put down the clothes on a bedside table and put his hand on the boy's forehead. He could feel the intense heat coming from his head and into his palm. "He has a fever! Nurse, come quickly!!!"

----

Takashima - I wonder what's gonna happen next! XD


	3. The Bare Fruit

**Takashima** - Hi everyone! Welcome to the last sequel to **Employer and Employee**! I hope that you guys sincerely enjoyed reading my work... I have to admit, when I first started writing the sequels, I was self-conscious about it. I was thinking, "Will anyone read this? I'm not really a good writer so why would they bother...?" But reading some of the reviews that I've been getting from you guys, I'm grateful! I really, really am!

Anyway, enough of my gibberish. Let's get to this last chapter and find out what happens? _OH! Before I forget, this is going to be a slightly angsty chapter, so if you don't enjoy angst, please.. don't yell at me! _-,-;

---

"It was my fault...!!" The usually-composed CEO stood stiffly outside of his employee's room with his chin tucked towards his chest, "All my fault!" All around him, his medical staff rushed into the room to help the young employee; checking his pulse, his temperature, recording his symptoms and changing his clothes to a more proper hospital garb.

Some of the nurses came out of the room. They were discussing the boy's current condition and although Seto, their boss, was standing against the wall silently cursing himself, they spoke as if he weren't standing there at all.

"That poor boy.. he was drenched from head to toe in the freezing rain..." The first nurse said sympathetically.

The second nurse had a just-as-sympathetic ring to her voice as her companion, "I don't think it was just the rain. Personally, I think it was the chemicals in the rain. I had heard that there was a high chance of light acid rain today... I guess the news stations thought it wasn't important enough to announce to everyone, to stay indoors..."

"News castors are always after money!" The nurse huffed, "They're just as bad as politicians! It's always about the money and not the people!"

"Yes," the second nurse sighed as she held her clipboard close to her chest. As she and her friend walked by Seto, she continued, "But it's because of the people that they are chosen...."

It hurt. This... strange pang in his chest. It made him feel things that were suppose to be dead to him for a very long time. He had killed them off for a reason. He had to be strong to run his company that he stole from under his evil stepfather. He had to be strong to protect his little brother, Mokuba. He needed to be strong for himself or else.. he wouldn't be the cruel and monotonous Seto Kaiba anymore.

His hand reached under his coat and he touched the area above his heart. _Doki._ "Why am I feeling this way?" Seto hissed in his mind. He had half expected an answer but received none. **_Doki_**. He grit his teeth. It was becoming more painful and he found it a little hard to breathe. His body was working against him, or so he thought. It was wanting something that HE didn't want.. or maybe, he was denying his own desire...

This desire deserved to be quenched. It had always been denied, but this time, this desire... this strong urge, needed to be satisfied and it wouldn't allow this last chance to finally be rewarded slip away. It would go against itself as a whole, Seto, to get what it wanted.. This desire.. this ugly, beautiful hunger...

---

It was the dead of night and the only thing that could be heard were the faint beeps from the machines that were docked beside him and his own soft breathing. He could feel the crisp, cool air entering his nose as he breathed in and the stiff tubes agitating his nostrils as he tried to move. However, he couldn't. His body felt heavier than usual but strangely warm, as if it were an alien warmth.

He tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the room. It was hard to see and he didn't even recognize where he was but despite this, he could make out little things in the room. Like chairs, or curtains and the shape of the window, where the moonlight failed to enter because the closed blinds blocked the rays.

He also tried to speak but his throat.. God, his throat felt like it was congested, so stuffed up that the only thing he could do was breath if he wanted to avoid the pain that went with this. He knew that even air would have a hard time escaping his throat if he tried to exhale, so speaking would produce fruitless results. This much he knew.

But where could he be? When he tried to remember the last place he was, his memories became fuzzy and blurry. It was impossible for him to remember at this hour.

He laid back and closed his eyes but automatically, they reopened. He couldn't sleep. His body had been sleeping all day. He tried to mentally express his annoyance, but nothing appeared in his mind. All he could do was lay there and act like a vegetable, alive but unable to do anything.

Then, a soft click shattered the peaceful air in the room followed by a trail of soft, almost mute, footsteps. There was a second soft click and that was when he looked towards the door and saw a tall, slim figure standing at the foot of his bed. He couldn't say anything, he couldn't move, he couldn't make a single peep.

"Jounouchi..." A voice so soft that he could hardly hear it. "I'm sorry. This was my fault."

This voice.. he.. recognized it but who did it belong to?

"I knew it would be a downpour but still, I asked you to come..." There was a pause. "And now, look at you.. you got sick, passed out, because of **me**."

There was a longer silence that followed. "I.. " He looked like he tucked his chin towards his chest. "I.. I was selfish. I wanted.. I wanted to see you, and I knew you would come no matter what kind of weather.."

Another silence. "I knew you would come," he repeated with a mix of disappointment and frustration at himself.

He looked up and then after a few moments, he walked around to the left side of the bed and looked down at the patient. For several seconds, he stood there but suddenly, he reeled back in surprise. "Katsuya! You're--"

Jounouchi was looking up at him. That was all he could do. After all, he was a temporary vegetable... Sitting there unable to talk or move very much.

"--awake!" Kaiba sounded stunned but had enough sense to control the volume of his voice in the steadfast room. If even an irregular sound were to reverberate from beyond the door, nurses would come in swarms to investigate. Although to him right now that would be a nuisance, that was what he had hired them for originally.

Seto watched Jounouchi sit in his bed quietly. Even though he knew that the boy had merit to reply, he didn't. He privately thought it was strange. His behavior only moments before was strange as well... even he didn't know what to make of it himself. "Katsuya," he said softly.

He paused, straining his ears for a reply but none came. With this silence, his heart had quickened with fearful thoughts brewing in his mind. "Jounouchi....." A subtle urgency was added to his usually monotonous voice. "Jounouchi..!"

"W-"

Seto's brows flinched, hearing the sound of a suddenly exhaled breath caught his attention. Patiently, he waited for him to continue.

"..who.."

Seto found himself leaning his ear closer to Jounouchi's face, almost anxious to know what he had to say.

"Who.. are you..?"

The silence that settled in next was dead. You could hear a pin needle drop and it sounded like it was an explosion made from a grenade ten feet in front of you. But couldn't you sympathize? Couldn't you imagine what could be running through Seto Kaiba's mind right now? To fall in love with another man and then, as you are about to give the relationship, that is forbidden in modern eyes, a shot, you are suddenly... forgotten? Just like a blink of an eye...

---

Two days time passed since then and Jounouchi had recovered beautifully. His body was in tip-top physical condition, his optical vision was perfect, the limberness and flexibility of his body was amazing and even his personality was the way it was originally. Everything was the same except his memory. He could remember street names, phone numbers, and his family and friends, everyone but Seto Kaiba.

It was as if... by not only with the help of the acid rain, he purposely forgot him. Sure, Seto was a cruel, heartless, cold, depressing, demanding, obnoxious, ignorant man, but he was human too. He had his flaws. Seto was indeed human, composed of flesh and blood and bones. That was what humans were and no matter how hard Seto had tried to bury them, he had feelings and a heart too.

---

Seto sat in his office on the hundredth floor of his company's building with his fingers steeped in front of him and his elbows propped on the broad, flat oak desk. He didn't know how to describe it, but there was a void in his chest and a flighty quiver in his heart that twitched every time he thought of the golden-haired boy. His blue eyes bore into the wood pattern of his desk intently.

"--Mr. Kaiba?" A familiar female voice asked in a concerned tone.

He looked up at her, at first not recognizing her but then he knew it was his personal secretary. "What is it?" He said coolly.

"I asked if you were all right... Sir.. "

"I'm fine. What do you want?"

She looked hesitant. She was only expressing her concern for him but she was instantly pushed behind a barrier. "..Mr. Yamoi... is here for the 2 o'clock summit... Mr. Kaiba, Sir."

Seto merely regarded her with a nod as he gathered up the necessary files. He didn't even look up at her. The secretary took a few seconds to look at him before she let herself out.

The meetings were taking forever and the young CEO was finding it difficult to keep his mind focused on each topic that was discussed at the summit. His secretary was diligently writing down all she could because later she would be thanked for her efforts. A smile, a nod, or a handshake would be the reward she would be most satisfied with. She could only hope.

A clean game face and a firm handshake were the symbols of a summit well done. When at last the room was empty of all visitors and only employees remained, the secretary presented her boss her neatly-written three page notes. "Here you are, Sir, the minutes (a memorandum) to today's summit."

Seto looked at the white sheets and took them from her hand. He was scanning over them as he made his way around the long polished pine table to the executive head's chair at the left end by the broad windows. It was a few minutes later when Seto said anything to his personal secretary. "Thank you."

She was happy with the words of kindness, but somehow they were void of any gratitude that he usually expressed when she saved him from these summits. She had been working for him since the day he overthrew his stepfather, Gozaburo, and she felt that because of her position she knew him better than any one else in the building. "Mr. Kaiba," she took a step towards him as he was busy reading over her notes.

"What is it?" He said from behind the papers that hid his face.

She was cautious about how she used her words. "Is there anything bothering you?"

For a moment, Kaiba sat there, simply staring at the sheets in his hands before he set them onto the table and looked up at his secretary with a strict, almost angry expression. "No."

Boldly, she said, "Mr. Kaiba, at today's summit, I noticed that you looked constantly distracted. You never let your personal affairs afflict your business affairs unless if was something big." She stepped even closer to him. His gaze on her made her uneasy. She continued, "I have been your secretary since the beginning and have been loyal to only you. If there is anything troubling you, please, Mr. Kaiba, you can confide in me."

Was he that obvious? No, or else the summit would have been interrupted constantly. Could it have been that his secretary had always studied him? Perhaps. This irritated him and yet, it sent waves of relief through him.

He sat back in his big, black chair looking at her. "Nothing I say in this room better leave this room."

"Of course, Sir!" She sat down in a suede rotating chair by him, ready and eager to listen.

The CEO's expression became soft as he looked down at his hands resting on his lap. "I was forgotten," he said sadly.

The young secretary blinked. "By your little brother?" All she knew was that Mokuba was the most important person in her Boss' life. It was rare for him to share anything from his personal life with her.

"No," he said, a forlorn expression settling on his face. He was inwardly debating whether to reveal to her who he meant but... could he truly trust her?

"I was forgotten by Jounouchi Katsuya."

"The new game tester you hired, Sir?" She received a nod. "What happened?"

His hand palmed half his face and the forlorn expression became deeper as he explained, "--and when I walked over, I saw he was awake. He said "who are you?" and I felt like I had just been plowed down by a car."

"Amnesia," she said in a sagely tone. She saw him look up at her. Of course he knew it was amnesia, but... it still gave him a shock, having been forgotten... "There is no cure for amnesia, but maybe you can help him remember you, Mr. Kaiba. Who could forget _you_, Sir? You have a strong personality!"

Seto decided that perhaps she was right; perhaps he needed to help Jounouchi remember him. It would all be worth it in the end... to hear him say his name again, to see him smile for him... "Yes, perhaps I will help him remember. Thank you for your advice, Ms. Akitoshi." He rose up from the chair and left the room with a stunned secretary still sitting and watching his wake.

"He... smiled!" She smiled inwardly.

---

"No Ma, I'm fine! Ya don' have ta come ova and check on me," he said into the receiver of the phone, "Yes, I know. I'll get betta. Promise! Uh-huh! Tell Shizuka I miss her! Okay! Bye!" Katsuya put the phone where it belonged and laid back on the couch.

"It's been a long day," he told himself and as he was about to close his eyes, there was a knock at the front door. "Ugh.. who could it be at this time?"

Lazily, he rolled off the edge of the couch and climbed up to his feet. It took a total of five minutes for him to get to the door from the den, even though the distance between the two places wasn't all that far away from each other. When he opened the door, he saw a tall man with blue eyes standing there in a long, white trench coat. "Uh.. Hi. Can I.. help you?"

He really didn't remember him and again, Seto's heart quivered, as if it were a prelude to it's destruction. "Yes, my name is... Seto Kaiba. I was... wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes, Jounouchi.."

Those deep brown eyes studied Seto's face for a while before he smiles and nodded while opening the door wider for him. Jounouchi moved away from the doorway and headed back to the den. It wasn't long before Seto joined him in there. "What do ya want to talk to me about, Seto Kaiba?"

Seto had never been in Jounouchi's apartment before, always thinking that perhaps it would be dirty with pizza boxes laying around or grimy laundry clinging to the couch and other messes to the like. On the contrary, however, it was spotless, clean and it smelled nice--almost like sage. Nothing like he had expected it to be.

He took a moment to notice the beautiful framed pictures of Jounouchi's family, rather the ones with his mother and sister in them, and the unmarked, polished pine dinner table to his far right, the large LCD plasma television behind him and who could miss the hardwood floors? It was a great apartment, one that he would never have guessed belonged to this golden-haired boy.

"I want to help you get back your memories," he said, sitting down in the cushion on the couch next to the golden-haired boy.

"My memories?" Katsuya sat back and looked at the brown-haired man with a puzzled. "I dink I remember everything, Mister Seto Kaiba." He almost sounded annoyed but he didn't know why.

Kaiba corrected him, insisting, "No, you don't. You don't remember _me_."

The awkward silence affected them both.

"I," Katsuya began slowly, "know you?"

Seto nodded. "If you have the time, listen to me. I can tell you everything we did together this past summer." He could see that the brown-eyed boy that he so adored was hesitant and was reluctant to agree, but he nodded regardless.

"This past summer, " Seto recited thoughtfully as his chest erupted with butterflies, "was the best in my life. Better than visiting Italy in June or the Bahamas in July. It was because you were with me." He shifted uncomfortably as he noticed Jounouchi staring at him with an unmoved expression.

"Please go on," Katsuya said, interested in finding out if this really happened. Maybe the memories would surface if he kept on talking..

Kaiba nodded and obliged. "When I first hired you at my company, Kaiba Corp., my only intentions were to use you, make you perform difficult, daunting tasks but it didn't go as I had planned." He smiled slightly as he pictured the event in his mind, "You had gotten lost on your first day and you pressed the wrong button on the elevator and ended up on the hundredth floor. Wandering around, you found a way to get into my office and I got so mad I almost threw you out myself."

"That's a happy memory for you, Mister Seto Kaiba?" Jounouchi's brow arched.

"Just 'Seto' is fine and yes, because although I was furious with you, I thought that you had even more audacity than when you and I first met in school and that truly intrigued me." The golden-haired boy nodded and shifted in the place he sat.

"I see, Seto..."

"A few weeks after you came to work for me, I noticed how much closer you had gotten to Mokuba, my little brother, and I had gotten... jealous."

"Why?"

Seto crossed his legs and stared at the glass coffee table before him. "I was always working to support him and our lifestyle, so I could never be home to be with him or play with him. But as soon as you came, he adapted to you and to me, it seemed like he was thinking of you as his older brother and not me." He sighed softly and closed his eyes.

"It was hard for me to accept, but eventually, after an event at a restaurant that you invited Mokuba and myself to, I knew I had to subside my jealousy and accept you. I-" Seto looked down at his hands on his lap, "-with my harsh words, had made you cry." Seto's heart was beating wildly in his heart as he recalled the moment.

Jounouchi looked slightly shocked but listened with interest as the CEO continued on, "I had said, 'You don't belong in my house. You don't belong near my brother. And you most certainly _don't_ _belong in my bedroom!_"

"You're bedroom, Seto?"

"You had asked Mokuba to show you around the mansion and one of the places he brought you was my room..."

"Oh.."

"It was a pouring day and after I yelled at you, you ran off, all the way home by foot through the rain.. Not long after you left, I passed out. I had a blackout from stress..."

"Hmm.." Those gorgeous brown eyes were looking thoughtfully at the auburn floors.

"Some other memories I have of you are from my house. There was one time you got so scared of my finding you eavesdropping that you ran down the hall and parasailed down the stairs and was rewarded with a cut on your cheek, another time where I first caught you playing with Mokuba and I didn't want you anywhere near him..."

He wore the most nostalgic smile on his face and it tugged at the blonde's heart. He really wanted to remember, but none of what Seto said even appeared in his head. Nothing at all. No recollection of the fall and he couldn't think of what this Mokuba even looked like or who he was. He watched him take out a silver trinket from his pocket and was handed it.

"What's this?" Jounouchi asked as he looked at the face plate of the little silver object.

Tenderly, Seto replied, "A Blue Eyes White Dragon pocket watch that _you_ gave me. You told me that it was the only one in the world..."

With his thumb, the blonde flicked it open and saw the silver dragon wings as the arms of the clock and the lustrous aquamarines that adorned each hour of the face. His left hand held the body of the watch and the right extended to the length of the chain and held it out. For just a few moments, he looked at it, studying it, hoping to remember **something**...

His mind drew a blank.

"Seto..." He looked up at the handsome brown-haired man that sat before him.

"Yes.. Jounouchi?" Those beautiful blue eyes captured the gaze of the brown-haired boy's.

"Here." Katsuya wanted to return the watch but the way he said it, it made Seto uncomfortable.

Receiving the watch and putting it back into his pocket, he tried to be brave and smiled, "Is there-"

"I'm," The blonde's bangs covered half his face, "sorry. I.. just can't remember..."

Maybe... it was too much to expect.. Maybe, he was hoping for too much but when he heard those words, Seto could literally hear the glass in his world shatter and crash around him. Before he knew it tears had brimmed in his eyes and began to roll down his cheeks. His heart felt as it was being strangled, choked and stabbed with a million needles...

He had tried all these years to prevent this from happening to him. He didn't want to know pain. He didn't want to suffer emotionally, not again. That was why he sealed himself off in a cold, harsh place where no one could reach him. He needed to be a robot.. He didn't want to feel like **_this_**! But somehow, Jounouchi Katsuya had evaded all of his defenses and took his heart. This man that sat before him, this man called Jounouchi Katsuya.

"Seto, I-" He was caught off guard, his eyes widened and he could feel the hot lips that belonged to this powerful, yet helpless man against his. He could feel the passion behind it, the fully exploited love that he felt for him. It was almost... overwhelming and it was making tears well in his own eyes. He didn't understand why.

Yet, he still struggled. His hands grasped the front of Seto's jacket and feverishly tried to push him off. It was a fruitless effort. Useless. He was stronger and he was consumed by a zeal that engulf his being. Jounouchi was powerless against him.

Seto couldn't help himself. He wanted Jounouchi to remember what happened all summer. The constant bittersweet reunions each morning, noon and night, the idle banter over the phones that always left him angry and annoyed yet strangely satisfied, the comical accidents that the blonde inadvertently committed.. He wanted him to remember everything.. Everything so that he wouldn't have to suffer alone...

"Mm!!" Jounouchi's tears spilled from his eyes and over his cheeks. He gasped into Seto's mouth when he felt himself being forced onto the flat of his back. Those strong arms were wrapped tightly around his pelvis and his arms curled between them, fingers tangling in the fabric of his shirt.

Finally, he pulled back and he realized that the blonde was crying. He didn't know for what reason, may it be him or something else, but he wanted to sooth his crying by kissing his eyes affectionately.

"W-why..?" Jounouchi sniffled. He didn't argue with him when he was kissed on the eyes. "Why are you doing this, Seto?"

Again, his heart felt like it was being choked, but in addition, his chest was also tightening, making it harder for him to breath. Softly, "Haven't you figured it out..?" He planted a gentle kiss on the boy's parted, plush lips. "I love you."

Those three words with eight letters and two spaces... Those three _simple_ words... They were so hard to get out of his mouth, but Seto said them. He had to put all the courage he had behind them in hopes that it would be enough to bring the Jounouchi he knew back. He opened his soul, no, _poured_ his soul into those three universal words.. Wishing.. praying for a miracle..

When those big brown eyes opened to look up at him, Seto could see that his words did not reach him. There was no spark.. there was no usual light there that told him that his Jounouchi had come back to him. And that tore his heart open.

His knees supported his weight on top of the small-framed boy as his hands cradled his face. "Jounouchi...!" Soft, throaty sobs escaped his lips; he just couldn't hold them back any more. "D-Do you hate me that much...? Hate me enough to forget about me?" The tears kept falling like water from a rainfall, uncontrollable and in large drops.

The expression on Seto's face was full of torment and it made Jounouchi's chest hurt when he looked into it. He didn't know what to say but he knew that he didn't hate him. He couldn't. Contrary to this, his heart was swelling up. Seto's fingers felt hot against his skin and even the teardrops that fell on his face felt hot... What was this..? Why was it so hot..?

It was agony, to hear sobs and helpless whimpers from the man that seemed so strong when he first entered his home. "Please.. don't cry, Seto.." His effeminate fingers reached up to wipe the fresh tears away from his eyes.

"Jounouchi," Seto said in a whisper, "I was selfish.. I-I wanted to tell you earlier but I didn't know how to-" A finger over his lips interrupted him.

"You can stay here tonight, so you can be near me..." He leaned up and softly kissed his lips. He didn't know why he did it but it felt right. It felt as if it he _wanted_ it to happen. "But in the morning, I would like for you to leave.. I have school."

Seto would have laughed.. School and Jounouchi? "All right.."

---

That night, Seto stayed awake, watching Jounouchi sleep in his arms. He was entrapping this beautiful, sleeping boy immortally in his mind fore if Jounouchi were to really forget him forever, **he** would remember and even if it would be painful to watch him in the distance, he could still smile at past memories and that gift that he had given him. This could be the last time...

He could feel the burning tears welling up in his eyes as he watched the boy in his arms sleep on obliviously. He whispered, "You were the first one I had opened my heart to in a long time... and I wanted to make you mine.. Jounouchi... but now.. that can't be.. I'm.. afraid.. Afraid that I'll have to go through all that pain again.."

There was total silence for a few seconds before there was a stifled sob followed by a sniffle. "I remember the time in Duelist Kingdom where you challenged me for the first time and you lost... I had thought how cute you were and I called you a dog just to see how you would react... And in my tournament this past year, you almost beat me and it surprised me, seeing how strong you were..." His fingers swiped back the blonde's bangs behind his ear and away from his angelic face under the soft moonlight.

"I want you to come back.. so I can tease you, so I can see you smile, so I can love you..."

---

The sunlight from the window irritated Seto's eyes and he winked them open. It was so bright... Almost like the sun wanted to wake him up or was it there just to make his life miserable? He rolled over to his side and tried to reach for something or someone to hold onto but grabbed nothing but air. Opening his eyes, he found himself alone in a bed of blue sheets and blankets. "Jounouchi..?"

Only seconds after he had said his name, Jounouchi appeared through the door with a tray of breakfast: toast, a cheese omelet, and milk. "You called?" A familiar grin.

That earned Jounouchi a rare dumbfounded stare.

As he sat there beneath the sweet smelling sheets, Seto's mind wandered around a single question that brought back both the anxiety and nostalgia: "Did he remember?" Oh, how his heart trembled, waiting for a clue that could tell him that his Jounouchi was back..

"Good morning, Mr. Sunshine! I thought you would never wake up!" The same cheerful demeanor made Seto's heart quiver. "Thanks to you, I missed school!"

Jounouchi set the tray on a bedside table and before he knew it, he was in the bed. "Ahh!! Seto!! What was that for?" But he only blinked, puzzled when he felt the strong embrace of Seto's arms around his waist. "S-Seto..?" The sudden affection made him blush from ear to ear.

"You're back..!"

"What? But I didn't go.. anywhere... Just to the kitchen..."

Seto, with his hand sliding to the smaller boy's chin, turned his face towards his and brought their lips together. A stifled gasp left the boy's throat but it was gone as soon as he felt the passion and purity of their feelings melting together.

For once in his life, Seto was glad that he was who he was because it was **he** who was kissing this boy and not another person. Jounouchi was his. Not just an employee, so much more than that...

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Takashima - The END! Sorry guys, that's all! I hope you enjoyed reading my story and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback! :D It'll help me decide what to write next. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! :3


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